If you’ve finished Widow’s Bay and are looking for more of that ‘the next Martha’s Vineyard and definitely not cursed’ vibe, then Dead Of Summer is the book for you!
Ollie Veltman and his mother are heading home to the island of Anchor’s Mercy for the best summer ever. How could it not be when the tourists love the queer friendly island culture (it’s basically Provincetown) and beautiful sandy beaches. Ollie and his friends know that something more is deeply wrong with the island but nobody will talk about it. It’s easy to ignore the warning signs until a storm coincides with the busiest weekend of the summer. What happened to cause all contact with the island to be cut off?
Having enjoyed Ryan la Sala’s previous young adult novels The Honeys and Beholder, I was excited to dig into Dead Of Summer. I was not disappointed! Told in flashbacks, interview transcripts, and Ollie’s own words- this was excellent spooky body horror. It is a young adult novel so not intensely graphic on the gore levels but this is definitely in the contagion/zombie type genre so be forewarned. I will also confess that I was confused by the abrupt ending until I realized that this is one of two, but the second book is coming out next April I believe so not really that long to wait for a conclusion.
How do you think you all would fare in an eco-apocalypse? I know I don’t have that grizzled survivor eating ancient cans of beans in me. I probably wouldn’t be Patient 0 cause I don’t touch weird stuff but I would probably get sneezed on right away. Sorry in advance to my friends and family, I am going to try to eat you.
